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Agreement on holding family reunions upon Chuseok

writer

최지선

created

2013-08-26

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3922

*Unofficial translation

Press Release

Agreement on holding family reunions upon Chuseok

August 23, 2013

Today(8.23) South and North Korea held a Red Cross working-level talks at Panmunjeom 『Peace House』 and agreed to have separated family reunions upon Chuseok. Also, South and North Korea agreed to hold additional Red Cross working-level talks in order to hold another family reunion within this year.

The South and North agreed to conduct Chuseok family reunions at Mount Geumgang from September 25 to 30 with each side setting the size of reunions at 100 people, respectively.

- The South and North will exchange: the written requests to confirm the living status of between 200 and 250 separated families at each side’s convenience on August 29; written replies of the request on September 13; and the final lists on September 16. The form and method of the reunions will proceed according to the custom.

South and North Korea agreed to conduct video reunions between separated families from October 22 to 23 with each side setting the size of the reunion at 40 families, respectively.

In addition, the South and North virtually agreed to carry out one more round of separated family reunion in November, and agreed to hold additional inter-Korean Red-Cross working-level talks to discuss the matter as soon as the Chuseok reunion ends.

Also, South and North Korea agreed to regularize family reunions, confirm the living status of the separated families, and allow families to exchange letters, and seek to resolve separated family issues fundamentally.

The R.O.K. government gauges that this agreement is the beginning of the Park Geun-hye administration’s process to solve separated family issues.

- The agreement provided an opportunity to strive for the regularization of family reunions.

- The R.O.K. government will closely cooperate with the Korean Red Cross in order to conduct the Chuseok family reunion as planned, and continue to put efforts to solve separated family issues.